


Shirts

by TiffanyF



Series: Dress Shirts [1]
Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: Crack, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-04
Updated: 2013-02-04
Packaged: 2017-11-28 03:51:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/669954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffanyF/pseuds/TiffanyF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Speed's death he is given a choice. But over the years it drives him crazy as he watches his team work and he finally decided to try and do something about it.  I don't own 'em and don't claim 'em.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shirts

Tim Speedle blinked and looked around. The last thing he remembered was his supervisor’s hands on his chest and Horatio’s voice begging him to hang on. “Okay, this is weird,” Speed thought looking around. He was surrounded by big, white fluffy clouds. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Heaven, Tim, not hell,” a voice said.

“Don’t sneak up on me,” Speed snapped turning around. His eyes fell on a man with white hair wearing jeans and a t-shirt. “I thought angels had halos and wings.”

“And I thought CSIs were supposed to be polite,” the man replied. “There are no angels, Tim. Not in the sense you’re thinking. This is the afterlife and here you have a choice. You can move on, be reborn or whatever happens once you walk through those gates or you can stay and watch over those you love. If you loved anyone.”

“Hey, I love my team,” Speed said. “They’re my family and if I have a chance to help them in any way then you can bet your ass I’m staying right here and doing just that.”

“That’s fine with me,” the man said. “They won’t be able to see you or hear you but they might sense you. I’ve noticed that you CSIs tend to have a slight sixth sense at times.”

Speed snorted. “It’s the only thing that keeps us alive at scenes,” he said.

“Then what happened to you?”

“That’s none of your business,” Speed snapped in reply. “Just give me my wings and let me get to work. Miami never closes.”  
********************

Over the next few years Speed spent his days watching over his team and did his best to keep them safe and his nights watching to make sure that they didn’t have nightmares. It was hard because he couldn’t be in two places at once so he rotated through; Horatio first, then Calleigh, Eric, and Alexx. If he thought one of the kids had an especially bad day he’d add in Ryan and Natalia but for the most part he watched over his family. And when he was at Alexx’s house he watched over her kids too; they worried their mom might get hurt while at work and not come home again and Speed wanted to spare them some of that concern.

He was surprised to find that Horatio had the most nightmares because his boss was the calmest most in control man he’d ever known. Speed did his best to fight the demons that bothered Horatio during the night but some were able to slip past and Horatio would spend the rest of the night in a chair in his living room staring at a picture of the team taken before Speed died.

And, slowly, Speed was going crazy. It wasn’t that he couldn’t talk with anyone. He’d always been a solitary man by nature and was used to being alone and ignored. No, what was driving him to distraction was that his boss; his smart, sensible, calm and collected lieutenant was wearing nothing but black stripped shirts. Horatio always wore a suit and looked very professional in it. He normally shaded towards black although Speed knew he had tan, gray and blue as well although none of them had made an appearance of late. All Speed was able to see after a while was stripes; gold, orange, green, yellow, silver; it didn’t matter. Horatio was always in a black suit with a stripped shirt. He knew he couldn’t be heard but he had to do something.  
********************

Horatio woke one night to a bright light from his closet and a muttering sound. He buried his head in his pillow but it didn’t help any. And he sat bolt upright when he realized that he didn’t have a light in his closet. Silently he took his gun from his bed side table and slid out of bed as graceful as a tiger on a rock. He stepped across the room and the muttering grew clearer and more distinct.

“There has to be one. He can’t have thrown them all away. Where is it? I swear I’m going to find a way to make this better even if it kills me. Wait, that doesn’t work, I’m already dead. Focus, Speed, there has to be a solid shirt in here somewhere.”

“Tim?” Horatio asked.

The man in the closet jumped and spun around. “You aren’t supposed to be able to see me,” he said.

“Okay, why are you in my closet at two in the morning?” Horatio asked.

“This is my version of the afterlife,” Speed replied.

“Rifling through my clothes?” Horatio’s eyebrows went up and the gun dropped to his side. He turned and made his way back to the bed. “I think I need to call a doctor in the morning and maybe get my eyes checked.”

“I’m really here, H,” Speed said. “Okay, yeah, I’m dead but they gave me a choice; watch over my family or move on. You guys need all the help you can so I chose to stay and keep doing my job. And, like I said, you aren’t supposed to see me.”

Horatio rubbed his eyes but Speed was still standing there when he looked up again. “I’ll repeat, why are you in my closet.”

“Because it’s driving me crazy!” Speed exclaimed. “Just once, H; just once I want to see you how you used to be dressed. Do you even realize what you’re doing? Every day it’s the same thing; black suit and a dark colored brightly striped shirt. What happened to the red one? The purple one, green, blue; hell, what happened to the plain white shirt Calleigh got you for Christmas a few years ago?”

He couldn’t help it; Horatio started laughing. “They wore out, Speed,” he said. “All except the ice blue shirt. I burned that one because it had your blood on it.”

“So you really don’t know what you’ve been doing?”

“And I hadn’t realized it would bother anyone so much,” Horatio chuckled. “If I promise to buy a plain dress shirt will you move on?”

“No,” Speed said. “I’m not leaving until you guys come join me in like seventy years or something. You’re my family and I want to make sure you’re safe. Now go back to sleep and this will all be a dream when you wake up in the morning. But don’t forget to go shopping.”

“Or you’ll be back?”

“And I’ll burn every god damn shirt you have in your closet,” Speed grumbled as he faded away. “I’ll be watching, Horatio.”

“I know you will, Tim,” Horatio said softly. “I know you will.”


End file.
